After Effects Tutorial: Roto Brush

Good evening, design friends!

I'm excited to share my experience using the Roto Brush tool in After Effects! It's pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. I started by importing my footage and double clicking it in the Project panel to open it in the Layer panel next to my composition.

Then, I selected the Roto Brush tool and painted over the subject I wanted to isolate ( in this case, I aimed to separate her from the background.)

To adjust the brush size, I held down the Command key and dragged in or out (or used the mouse wheel if available). After making the selection, I zoomed in to refine the edges. Holding down the Option key let me subtract areas from the selection, and letting go added more. Once it looked good, I hit Spacebar to preview and Freeze to lock in the selection.

After that, I went back to my composition panel, duplicated the Roto Brush layer with Command+D, and deleted the Roto Brush effect from the bottom copy. Then, I created a new text layer, placed it between the two video layers, and animated it to move across the screen from behind the subject.

I also changed the typeface and color of the text to match the feel of the scene.

That’s how it turned out! I’d love to hear what you all think! feedback is always welcome!

Here is the link I used for my tutorial!

https://www.adobe.com/learn/after-effects/web/rotoscope-subject?x-product=CCHome%2F1.0&x-product-location=Search%3ATutorials%3Alink%2F3.2.3&mv2=cch&locale=en&learnIn=1

Creative Challenge 40

Good afternoon, design friends!

During our class on Wednesday night, I realized that my creative challenges were lacking a key element, which is the very reason why we engage in these challenges. Being creative is not just about being artistic; it’s about problem solving and thinking outside the box while infusing relevance with novelty.

In class, we participated in a challenge where we took a pen and pushed it through a piece of paper to create a hole. Then, we were tasked with using that hole to create a face. I completed the challenge and was so amused by my creation that it made me laugh out loud!

Inspired by this, I decided to take the challenge into Adobe After Effects. I wanted to learn how to remove an object, so I used the Roto Brush tool to paint over the object I wanted to eliminate (the background seen through the opening in the mouth). It was definitely a learning experience!

I will go into detail about how to remove an object in After Effects in my next blog post, so stay tuned. It’s a work in progress, but here is what I have so far.

Learning After Effects! 1st tutorial:Time mapping

Good afternoon, design friends!

This week, we begin a new class: After Effects! I want to share how excited I am, even though I also feel a bit intimidated by everything After Effects has to offer. I know it can be overwhelming, but I am eager to learn as much as I can. From what I've seen, this is an incredible program, and I've been looking forward to learning it!

I chose a the time mapping tutorial https://www.adobe.com/learn/after-effects/web/the-unlock-karen-x-cheng-on-going-viral-and-optimizing-for-fun?learnIn=1

FIRST- Click on your footage layer in the timeline. Then click on the Layer and right click on Time then Enable Time Remapping.This will automatically add two keyframes. One at the start and one at the end of your clip.

THEN - Add Keyframes for Speed Changes

Move the playhead to the point where you want the fast section to end and the slow motion effect to begin. Click the diamond icon to drop a keyframe. Next, move the playhead to where the slow motion should end and the final speed up should start, then add another keyframe. You should now have a total of four keyframes:  

- One at the very start  

- One where the slow motion begins  

- One where the slow motion ends  

- One at the very end of your clip  

NEXT- Control the Speed with Keyframe Spacing

The spacing between your keyframes controls the speed of the video:  

- Keyframes that are closer together will result in faster motion.  

- Keyframes that are farther apart will result in slower motion.  

To adjust the speed, do the following:  

- Drag the first and second keyframes closer together to speed up the beginning.  

- Pull the second and third keyframes farther apart to slow down the middle section.  

- Bring the third and fourth keyframes closer together to speed up the end.  

LASTLY- Smooth Out the Transitions

• Highlight the keyframes, especially the two middle ones. Press F9 or right click them and choose Keyframe Assistant and choose Easy Ease. This will make the speed transitions feel more natural and less abrupt.

I then decided to add a clip of bubbles, change the blend mode to "screen," and lower the opacity. I also scaled the clip and adjusted its position to effectively cover the footage. I created a couple of versions, experimenting with different effects. I hope this helps you!

Brand Me!

Good afternoon, friends!

I was working on my resume and thought that if I was going to add a link to my Blogger page, I should have something nicer than what I had going on. I asked ChatGPT for feedback, and it suggested that as a design professional, I should create a logo for my personal brand and Blogger page. I thought, "Why didn't I think of this before? This is great!"

I really like steampunk, so I asked ChatGPT to help me create something that reflects my brand identity based on my Blogger content. It suggested an image with a steampunk style, which was a good start, but I wanted to design it myself! I decided to round the corners of the image, adjust the colors, and meticulously create a vine with each leaf in Adobe Illustrator. I sampled the colors from the image and used them to create a gradient.

Next, I grouped the elements and used a ruler to ensure they were evenly placed on top and bottom. I'm really pleased with how my leaves turned out. Overall, I'm happy with the design, and now I'm working on my Blogger page to create a layout that matches it. It's a work in progress, and I'm also trying to set up a WordPress account for more control over my content. But for now, here it is!

 

Design tutorial using Adobe Premiere Pro! My first tutorial!

 

Creative Challenge 39

Good afternoon, design friends,

As you may know, we are tasked with completing a creative challenge each week in class to keep our creative juices flowing. As I approach my graduation date, I want to revisit and apply the skills I have learned, as well as explore some new ones, to remain proficient in the programs we've studied. I am determined to excel with these tools, and I believe practice makes perfect. I have the drive and the resources to create wonderful things, and now I want to put that into action.

With that in mind, I decided to revisit Adobe Illustrator today. I was watching a tutorial that mentioned that entry level designers often create custom typefaces using the Pen Tool, which is exactly how I did it previously. However, I learned that professionals tend to use the Pencil Tool. Since I hadn't tried it yet, I felt inspired to create a typeface by outlining letters in Illustrator and then using the Pencil Tool to modify each letter and arrange them as I liked.

This exercise was purely for practice, allowing me to become familiar with the Pencil Tool. Keep in mind that this was my first attempt, and I was pleasantly surprised. This method was so much better than using the Pen Tool! I’m really glad I tried it, and I encourage you to do the same if you haven't already. Here's what I created.

Trippy :)

Creative Challenge 38

Good evening, Design friends!

This week, I wanted to challenge myself by creating something haunting and suspenseful using images. I also aimed to incorporate audio and transitional effects that worked together to enhance the theme I was going for. I searched for an audio clip that captured the suspenseful mood and rhythm that I felt matched the segment and transitions.

I realize that my work is quite amateur, but the purpose is to learn, grow, and improve. One of my goals was to enhance my timing. To achieve this, I experimented with fading images in and out, applied various transitional effects, and adjusted opacity and scaling to match the beat of the track. My hope was to create a more suspenseful vibe through these techniques.

Did it work?